Selection of Electronic Content and Services

ABSTRACT

A system and method to facilitating selecting or otherwise providing access to electronic content and services. Access to the content and services may be provided in such as a manner as to facilitate access to higher quality forms of the content. The higher quality forms of the content may be relate to any number of characteristics associated with displaying, transmitting, compressing, securing, and/or otherwise manipulating the content to more suitable forms relative to another form.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of and claims priority to U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 11/755,116, filed on May 30, 2007 and entitled“Selection of Electronic Content and Service,” the contents of which areincorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to selecting or otherwise providing accessto electronic content and services, such as but not limited to contentand service provided by a cable television service provider.

BACKGROUND ART

Electronic content and services may be broadcasted or otherwise to usersaccording to any number of protocols, standards, and formats, dependingon any number of variables. Some of these parameters may provide betterquality than the other formats, where quality may be defined in terms oftransmission speeds, processing demands, viewing quality, size, or anynumber of other characteristics. The ability to access or otherwisesupport higher quality content may be dependent on capabilities ofdevices used to access the same.

For example, if content is carried in television signals, the ability ofthe devices to process certain television signals may determine when theusers thereof are able to access higher quality content. Televisionsignals may be broadcasted according to any number of standards (e.g.,Moving Picture Expert Group (MPEG-3 or MPEG-4)) and formats (e.g.,Standard Definition (SD) or High Definition (HD)). The ability of thedevices to process the corresponding signals generally determineswhether to access the various services is possible.

Some devices may be configured to process both several types of qualitystandards and/or formats, i.e., some devices may be able to process bothSD and HD television signals. The ability of these devices may beadvantageous if some content is broadcast at one quality and othercontent is broadcast at another quality, as it allows such devices toaccess both types of content. The ability of these devices to processboth low and high quality content can be problematic if the content isbroadcast in both SD and HD, which is common if the service provider isrequired to support SD only devices.

The problem generally relates to selecting lower quality signals whenhigher quality signals are available. For example, the users may selectan SD television channel even though the same content is available on asupported HD television channel, which is problematic at least in so faras it is desirable that the customers desires to watch the highestquality content available. The present invention contemplates a solutionwherein selection of (automatic in at least one embodiment) the higherquality content is provided or otherwise facilitated when the lowerquality content is selected yet the higher quality content is availableor otherwise supported.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention is pointed out with particularity in the appendedclaims. However, other features of the present invention will becomemore apparent and the present invention will be best understood byreferring to the following detailed description in conjunction with theaccompany drawings in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates a system for providing or otherwise supportingdelivery of electronic media and services in accordance with onenon-limiting aspect of the present invention;

FIG. 2 illustrates a flow chart of a method of accessing electroniccontent in accordance with one non-limiting aspect of the presentinvention;

FIGS. 3 and 4 illustrate a user interface in accordance with onenon-limiting aspect of the present invention that may be used tofacilitate requesting a media content; and

FIG. 5 illustrates a channel map that may be used in accordance with onenon-limiting aspect of the present invention to automatically determinethe availability of higher quality content.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT(S)

FIG. 1 illustrates a system 10 for providing or otherwise supportingdelivery of electronic media and services in accordance with onenon-limiting aspect of the present invention. The system 10 may includea number of pieces of customer premises equipment (CPE) 12, 14, a mediaprovider 16, and a network 18. The system 10 may be generally referredto as a media content distribution network wherein media content iselectronically transferred over the network 18 to the CPE 12, 14.

The media provider 16, for exemplary purposes, is most prominentlydescribed with respect to being a television service provider havingcapabilities for providing television, telecommunications, and/orhigh-speed data services to subscriber locations, primarily throughwireline and/or wireless communications. The present invention fullycontemplates the provider 16 being associated with any type oftelevision service provider, including, for example, cable, IP,broadcast, satellite, etc. and non-television providers, such as thoseassociated with high-speed data, telecommunications, cellularcommunications, and the like.

The media provider 16 may be configured to support and/or facilitate theuse of any number of television and non-television services andapplications, such as, but not limited to email services, datatransmission service, linear and non-linear televisionprogramming/signaling (cable, satellite, broadcast, etc.), Video onDemand (VOD), interactive television (iTV), interactive gaming,pay-per-view (PPV), digital video recording (local and remote), and/orbroadcasting of signals associated with supporting televisionprogramming, movies, audio, and other multimedia, as well as,downloading of clips or full-length versions of the same.

The network 18 may include any number of features and devices tofacilitate signal transportation and other operations associated withinterfacing the subscriber locations with each other and otherwisesupporting communications associated with services of the media provider16. The network 18 may include terrestrial and celestial components andinfrastructures, including cable lines, telephone lines, and/orsatellite or other wireless architectures. The network may be associatedwith other private and/or public networks, such as the Internet anddedicated or virtual private networks.

The CPE 12, 14 may relate to any device, element, and/or other featureassociated with interfacing users with various services associated withthe media provider, such as but not limited to a settop box (STB),digital video recorder (DVR), personal computer (PC), television (whichmay include embedded user interface and processing capabilities), outletdigital adapter (ODA), media terminal adapter (MTA), cable modem (CM),personal digital assistant (PDA), mobile device (phone, computer, etc.),personal media device, and any other item having capabilities tosupporting access to any number of the services.

The CPE 12, 14 may be configured to descramble and to support and/orfacilitate the use of any number of television and non-televisionrelated signals, such as, but not limited to, Hyper Text TransferProtocol (HTTP), Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP), Syslog,Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP), Trivial File TransferProtocol (TFTP), Data Over Cable Service Interface Specification(DOCSIS), Domain Name Server (DNS) applications, DOCSIS Settop Gateway(DSG), out-of-band (OOB) messaging, and others.

Media may be associated with and/or controlled by the media provider 16(which in turn may receive the content from other sources). The mediamay be sourced from the media provider directly, from one or more of theCPE 12, 14 connected to the network 18, by, but not limited topeer-to-peer environments, and/or from any other source in communicationwith the network 18 (internet, etc.). For example, if the media provider16 is a television service provider, a portion of the media content mayrelate to television programs, movies, and other multimedia packets. Themedia content may be delivered to the subscriber locations directly fromthe media service provider 16 and/or from one or more of the other CPEs12-14 in communication with the network 18.

FIG. 2 illustrates a flow chart 20 of a method of accessing electroniccontent in accordance with one non-limiting aspect of the presentinvention. The method generally relates to providing customers or otherusers of media access devices, such as but not limited to STB, access tohigher quality versions of requested/desired media content. Withoutintending to limit the scope and contemplation of the present invention,the method is directed to accessing higher quality television signalsprovided by a cable television service provider. The present inventionfully contemplates its use in any number of environments and is notintended to be limited by the exemplary illustration provided below.

Block 22 relates to the media service provider broadcasting or otherwisedistributing media content through electronic communications. The mediamay be electronically communicated through any number of communicationmeans and mechanisms, including but not limited to communications basedupon a regional enterprise configured to broadcast the electronic mediato a number of subscribers located in the corresponding region, i.e., acable television headend configured for broadcasting standard definition(SD), high definition (HD), or otherwise formatted television signals.

Block 24 relates to receiving a request for accessing the broadcastmedia content such as but not limited to a request made by a user to aSTB for tuning to television signals associated with the televisionchannel having the desired content. The request may be determinedthrough a user command made to the STB, such as but not limited tochannel change commands issued from a remote control, and/or throughsome other interaction with the STB, such as but not limited tomanipulation of a user interface (UI).

FIGS. 3 and 4 illustrate a user interface 30 in accordance with onenon-limiting aspect of the present invention that may be used tofacilitate requesting a media content. The user interface 30 maygenerally be referred to as an electronic programming guide (EPG) havinga channel selection area 32. The channel selection area 32 may include agrid array for listing a number of channels and programs showing onthose channels during particular time periods. A cursor or other featuremay be actuated to highlight various cells within the array, which maythen be selected to access the content associated therewith, i.e., totune to the channel showing during a current time slot, to showadditional information, and/or to perform some other related function,such as but not limited to setting a DVR recording or on-demanddelivery.

Block 36 relates to determining whether a higher quality version of thecontent requested in Block 24 is available. The higher quality versionmay relate to another broadcast of the same content having bettertransmission speeds, processing demands, viewing quality, size, or anynumber of other improved characteristics relative to the previouslyrequested content. One non-limiting example of the present inventionrelates to initially requesting SD television channels and determiningwhether higher quality television channels are available, i.e., HDtelevision channels. The determination of the higher quality content maybe made according to or as a function of any number of operations.

The availability of additional or higher forms of the content may beselected by the user through interaction with the UI 30 illustrated inFIGS. 3 and 4. For example, the user highlights a particular cell withinthe channel selection area 32, (the cell corresponding to channel 55 at5:00 pm, which relates to Crafters Coast to Coast). A smart selectionwindow 38 is displayed upon selection or highlighting of the cell whichin turn displays the available formats for the requested content. Asshown, the smart selection window 38 indicates the requested content isavailable in SD and HD formats, the first listed or highlighted formatbeing the currently selected format/quality. Optionally, other formatsmay be similarly shown in the window to indicate other lower or higherquality formats.

From the smart selection window 38, the user may select on of theavailable formats, such as the indicated HD format. The UI 30 shown inFIG. 4 is displayed upon selection of the HD format. The HD selectionmay change the appearance of the UI 30 to a corresponding HD portion ofthe EPG having HD programming. As shown, multiple channels having HDformat may be included with the numeral ‘2’ occurring before the channelnumber. The smart selection menu may then change from highlighting theSD portion (FIG. 3) to highlighting the HD portion.

FIG. 5 illustrates a channel map 42 that may be used in accordance withone non-limiting aspect of the present invention to determiningavailability of higher quality content. The channel map 42 may include a“Channel” column 44 for listing a number of available channels and a“Source ID” column 46 having an assigned source for each channel. Thechannel map 42 may be accessed automatically by the STB upon receiving achannel change command or other user input. In the alternative, thesystem may automatically select a higher quality channel correspondingto the user selected lower quality channel by first determining if thehigher quality channel is available and if the user if provisioned forsuch higher quality service. If the higher quality channel is availableand the user is provisioned to access the higher quality service the STBwill automatically tune to the higher quality channel.

The channel map 42 may be configured to associate source IDs in theSource ID column 46 with various channels in the Channel column 44 thatare available to the subscriber. When a channel change command isreceived, the STB may consult the channel map 42 to determineinstructions or other information associated with tuning to or otherwiseaccessing the selected channel. The source ID column 46 may be used toprovide instructions or other information associated with tuning to orotherwise accessing the desired content.

The channel map 42 may further include a smart selection portion 48 tofacilitate determining whether higher quality versions of the requestedcontent are available. The higher quality versions of the requestedcontent may be determined from the smart selection portion 48 as afunction of the channels selected in the channel column 44. The smartselection portion 48 may include an “Available” column 50 for listingavailable forms of the content and a second “Source ID” column 52 forlocating or otherwise accessing the additionally available content.

Some or all of the channels may include additional versions of thecontent and/or only a portion of the channels may not include additionalversions, such as those indicated with “none”. While only one additionalform of the content is shown to be available for those channels havingadditional content, i.e. HD, the present invention fully contemplatesmultiple forms of the content being available, besides HD

The channel map 42 may be downloaded or otherwise utilized with the STB.The STB may consult the channel map 42 to locate the requested contentas a function of the channel associated therewith and the correspondingsmart selection portion 48 to determine whether additional forms of thecontent are available. This may provide an automated process fordetermining the availability of additional forms of the content withoutrequiring user interaction.

Returning to FIG. 2, Block 54 is reached if higher quality forms of therequested content are unavailable. This occurs, for example, if the userhas already selected the highest form of content and/or if no otherhigher forms of the content are available. Thereafter, the STBautomatically tunes to the requested content.

Block 56 is reached if higher quality forms of the content areavailable. Block 56 relates to determining whether the higher qualityforms are supported on the device requesting the content. Thesuitability of the higher quality forms may be determined as a functionof user inputs or other configurations of the STB or device attemptingthe access the content. The user or a technician may input capabilitiesof the device through interaction with a UI and/or in any other manner.The suitability may also be automatically determined by the STB as afunction of devices connected thereto, such as if a cable is connectedto an HD enabled display, if the STB is connected to a HD tuner, etc.

Block 58 is reached if the higher quality content is available andsupported on the STB or other device attempting to access the content.Block 58 relates to tuning to the higher quality content instead of thepreviously selected lower quality form. This includes the STB, forexample, tuning to channel 255 (HD) instead of the selected lowerquality channel 55 (SD). Of course, access to the higher quality contentmay include other operations.

A display or other feature on the STB may also be changed to reflect thehigher quality content tuned to in Block 58. If channel 55 is selected,the STB will automatically display channel 255 (the corresponding higherquality channel). This may be helpful in educating the user to thehigher quality channel number.

Alternatively, the STB display may not display the higher qualitychannel number and instead display the lower quality channel number,even though the higher quality form of the content is accessed. This maybe helpful in preventing confusion or other misinterpretations by theuser not understanding why the wrong channel number of showing for therequested content, while allowing the STB to tune to the higher qualityform.

If higher quality content is available and the STB is unable to supportthe higher quality content, Block 60 may be reached. Block 60 relates tooffering support for the higher quality content. This may include makingan offer to the subscriber to purchase or otherwise upgrade theirsubscription in order to access the content. The UI or other feature maybe used to communicate the offer. Block 62 relates to tuning to thelower quality content if the offer is denied and tuning to the higherquality content if the offer is accepted.

As described above, one non-limiting aspect of the present inventionrelates to automatically or with some user interaction facilitatingaccess to higher quality content when a subscriber or device attempts toaccess lower quality content. The present invention is predominatelydescribed with respect to tuning an STB to higher quality televisionsignals available on non-selected channels. The present invention,however, is not intended to be so limited and fully contemplatesfacilitating access to higher quality forms of any type of content andnot just content carried over television signals.

One non-limiting aspect of the present invention relates to allowingproviders to offer the higher quality forms of the content withoutrequiring the subscribers to be previously aware of the higher qualitycontent or to be aware of the capabilities of their device to access thecontent. The subscribers may be given the opportunity to purchase thehigher quality forms of the content and the suitability of thesubscriber's device to access the content may be determined from aconfiguration of the device and/or from elements connected thereto.

One non-limiting aspect of the present invention relates toautomatically preventing subscribers from continuously attempting toaccess higher quality forms of content if the subscribers are notentitled to access the content and/or if their device is unsuitable tosuch access. This may include automatically offering to support thehigher quality content if the subscriber attempts to tune to the higherquality content when not entitled and/or issue a message or otherwarning to the subscriber if the device is unsuitable for accessing thehigher quality content.

One non-limiting aspect of the present invention relates to allowingcable television service providers or other electronic mediadistribution entities to support multiple quality formats. For example,one non-limiting aspect of the present invention relates to a system forsupporting standard definition (SD) and high definition (HD) televisionchannel broadcasting. The system may include a regional enterpriseconfigured for broadcasting SD and HD television signals to a number ofSTBs. The STBs may be configured to automatically tune to an HDtelevision channel having content corresponding to a requested SDtelevision channel such that the provider may broadcasts multiple typesof content without having to target the higher quality content tospecific subscribers, as the subscriber devices can instead be reliedupon to automatically access the higher quality content if available.

If a portion of the STBs are HD enabled and portion of the STBs are notHD enabled, the regional enterprise may be configured to enable the HDenabled STBs to automatically tune to HD television channels withouthaving to perform any substantial operations with respect to the non-HDenabled STBs. If a portion of the HD enabled STBs are associated withnon-HD enabled televisions, the regional enterprise may be configured toinstruct the HD enabled STBs associated with the non-HD enabledtelevisions to prevent tuning to HD television channels and insteadallow the HD enabled STB to tune to SD television channels.

One non-limiting aspect of the present invention relates to an algorithmor other logically functioning element having suitable capabilities suchthat, when a service is selected/requested, it can look up the servicein a channel map or other feature and set a tuner or other feature to afrequency or other variable to access a higher quality form of theselected/requested service. Optionally, the algorithm may include someor all of the following processes: (1) user selects/requests a serviceby channel number or via channel up/down keys; (2) software controllingthe channel acquisition may lookup the selected/requested service todetermine its source ID; (3) the software may also determine if thereare alternative formats available for that service (content); (4) ifalternative formats are available it may compare the available formatswith the selected output device to determine the highest quality match;(5) the selected high quality match may then be used to tune the tunerand select the service from the QAM; (6) the channel number displayed onthe LEDs or on the On-screen display may reflect the user's selectedchannel, which may be independent of the actual serviceselected/requested/acquired; and (7) this process may repeat uponanother channel change.

One non-limiting aspect of the present invention relates to understandtype of display device is being used or attempted for use with requestedcontent so as to facilitate assessing whether the higher quality contentcan be supported on the associated display device. This may beautomatically determined without subscriber interaction, such as but notlimited to assessments carried out over HDMI or DVI cables used toconnect the STB to HD-enabled displays.

One non-limiting aspect of the present invention relates to a smartselection capability that may enhance user experiences for valued highend subscribers. This may simplify the channel selection and allowproviders to display the highest quality experience. In the future theselection methodology can be applied to targeting different advertisingto different users based on which format of service is selected (perhapsa demographic of the high end video user). This same concept can also beapplied to the Audio formats available and provided by the settopdevice.

As required, detailed embodiments of the present invention are disclosedherein;

however, it is to be understood that the disclosed embodiments aremerely exemplary of the invention that may be embodied in various andalternative forms. The figures are not necessarily to scale, somefeatures may be exaggerated or minimized to show details of particularcomponents. Therefore, specific structural and functional detailsdisclosed herein are not to be interpreted as limiting, but merely as arepresentative basis for the claims and/or as a representative basis forteaching one skilled in the art to variously employ the presentinvention.

While embodiments of the invention have been illustrated and described,it is not intended that these embodiments illustrate and describe allpossible forms of the invention. Rather, the words used in thespecification are words of description rather than limitation, and it isunderstood that various changes may be made without departing from thespirit and scope of the invention.

1. An apparatus comprising: one or more processors configured to causethe apparatus to: receive a request by a user to receive content in afirst definition format; determine whether the content is available in asecond definition format, wherein the second definition format comprisesa higher definition than the first definition format; after determiningthat the content is available in the second definition format, accessthe content in the second definition format for output to the user;change, based on accessing the content in the second definition format,a demographic associated with the user from a first demographic to asecond demographic; determine, based on the second demographic, anadvertisement associated with the content in the second definitionformat, wherein the advertisement is different in substance from anotheradvertisement associated with the content in the first definitionformat; and output, to a display device, the content in the seconddefinition format and the advertisement associated with the content inthe second definition format.
 2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein thefirst demographic comprises a wealthier demographic than the seconddemographic.
 3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the one or moreprocessors are configured to cause the apparatus to determine whetherthe content is available in the second definition format by accessing amap that associates the content in the first definition format with thecontent in the second definition format.
 4. The apparatus of claim 3,wherein the one or more processors are configured to cause the apparatusto configure the map to include a source identifier for accessing thecontent in the second definition format.
 5. The apparatus of claim 3,wherein the map associates the content in multiple formats to thecontent in the first definition format.
 6. The apparatus of claim 5,wherein the one or more processors are configured to cause the apparatusto: compare the multiple formats with formats displayable by the displaydevice to determine a matching format having a highest quality, whereinthe matching format comprises the second definition format.
 7. Theapparatus of claim 1, wherein the one or more processors are configuredto cause the apparatus to output a user interface for specifying whetherthe display device is able to display the content in the seconddefinition format.
 8. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the one or moreprocessors are configured to cause the apparatus to access the contentin the second definition format based on determining that the apparatusis authorized for higher definition services associated with the contentin the second definition format.
 9. The apparatus of claim 1, whereinthe one or more processors are configured to cause the apparatus to:after determining that the content is available in the second definitionformat and prior to accessing the content in the second definitionformat, determine whether the apparatus is permitted to access thecontent in the second definition format; based on determining that theapparatus is not permitted to access the content in the seconddefinition format, output an offer to access the content in the seconddefinition format; and access the content in the second definitionformat based on acceptance of the offer to access the content in thesecond definition format.
 10. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the oneor more processors are configured to cause the apparatus to access thecontent in both the first definition format and the second definitionformat.
 11. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the one or more processorsare configured to cause the apparatus to upconvert the content in thefirst definition format to obtain the content in the second definitionformat.
 12. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the one or more processorsare configured to cause the apparatus to receive the content in thesecond definition format over a broadcast network, a satellite network,a telecommunications network, or a cellular communications network. 13.The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the one or more processors areconfigured to cause the apparatus to: determine whether the displaydevice is configured to display the content in the second definitionformat based on determining that the content is available in the seconddefinition format.
 14. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the one or moreprocessors are configured to cause the apparatus to: highlight a firstportion of an electronic program guide (EPG) corresponding to thecontent in the first definition format; and change highlighting tohighlight a second portion of the EPG corresponding to the content inthe second definition format based on receiving a user input selectingthe second definition format from a window within the EPG, wherein thewindow is separate from the first portion of the EPG and the secondportion of the EPG and comprises a list of available formats.
 15. Anapparatus comprising: one or more processors configured to cause theapparatus to: receive a selection of a portion of a content listing, theportion corresponding to content in a first definition format; determinewhether the content is available in a second definition format, whereinthe second definition format comprises a higher definition than thefirst definition format; based on determining that the content isavailable in the second definition format, cause display of an option,within the content listing, for a user to select the second definitionformat; change, based on a selection of the option, a demographicassociated with the user from a first demographic to a seconddemographic; determine, based on the second demographic, anadvertisement associated with the content in the second definitionformat, wherein the advertisement is different in substance from anotheradvertisement associated with the content in the first definitionformat; and output the advertisement.
 16. The apparatus of claim 15,wherein the first demographic comprises a wealthier demographic than thesecond demographic.
 17. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the one ormore processors are configured to cause the apparatus to: afterdetermining that the content is available in the second definitionformat, determine whether the apparatus is permitted to access thecontent in the second definition format; and based on determining thatthe apparatus is not permitted to access the content in the seconddefinition format, output an offer to access the content in the seconddefinition format.
 18. An apparatus comprising: one or more processorsconfigured to cause the apparatus to: access a first content item havinga first definition; associate, based on accessing the first contentitem, a user of the apparatus with a first demographic; receive arequest to access a second content item having the first definition;after determining that a third content item, corresponding to the secondcontent item and having a second definition higher than the firstdefinition, is available, access the third content item; associate,based on accessing the third content item, the user with a seconddemographic that is different from the first demographic; determine,based on the second demographic, an advertisement associated with thethird content item, wherein the advertisement is different in substancefrom another advertisement for the second content item having the firstdefinition; and output the advertisement associated with the thirdcontent item.
 19. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein the firstdemographic comprises a wealthier demographic than the seconddemographic.
 20. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein the one or moreprocessors are configured to cause the apparatus to: after determiningthat the third content item is available and prior to accessing thethird content item, determine whether the apparatus is permitted toaccess the third content item; based on determining that the apparatusis not permitted to access the third content item, output an offer toaccess content having the second definition; and access the thirdcontent item based on acceptance of the offer.